Archives for May 2014

This is David González playing Homenaje a Toulouse- Lautrec by Spanish composer Eduardo Sainz de la Maza. The recording is made in Guitarras de Luthier, a guitar shop in Madrid. I think he plays it beautifully.

This is Tarik Residbegovic. I wrote about him earlier. I met him and his parents at the Sarajevo Guitar Festival. When I got home I received a message from his father

Tarik played at the competition in Omis, Croatia, last weekend and took a second prize in his category. He also had a very successful masterclass with a respectful professor Xhevdet Sahatxhija from Zagreb.

Like in many Eastern European countries, the music education system in Bosnia Herzegovina is very well organized. There are elementary and secondary music schools. The curriculum works with grades and there are a lot of competitions taking place. No wonder this country has many talented guitar players. For example Belmin Okanović. He started to play guitar at age of 8 in elementary music school under the tutelage of Nedim Tinjić and continued with prof. Predrag Stanković at the secondary music school. After Summer he will start in Vienna to continue his musical education with Alexander Swete. Belmin plays beautifully and already won several competitions. Last week he sent me an email including this picture.

‘Dear Mr. Vowinkel,

I just want to inform you that I won the First prize on Vojvodina guitar fest!
I really enjoyed the Festival, and the guitar was excellent!